Cybersecurity challenges intensify as technology evolves, and companies are the first to experience the difficulties of navigating the aftermath of attacks and data breaches. Unfortunately, few businesses employ cyber resilience adequately, leaving them exposed to risks due to their inability to identify, respond to, and recover from such incidents.

Cybersecurity risks are considerable, especially when it comes to financial loss, customer trust, and competitive advantage. According to the World Economic Forum, the past two decades of business have translated into $12 billion losses due to cyber incidents. At the same time, the gap between cyber-resilient companies and exposed ones deepens, especially due to emerging technologies that SMEs might not be able to access. 

Therefore, the future looks concerning regarding cybersecurity, so companies should prepare for what’s to come. Here are five expected risks businesses should get ready for. 

Consolidating vendors 

Vendor consolidation will be imperative, considering the lack of anticipation businesses face when increasing their cybersecurity budgets. Businesses must get their systems ready and simplify data management and visibility to detect and combat threats. 

A cybersecurity services provider includes virtual chief information security officers (vCISOs) with thorough incident response plans for resilience. This can be achieved by consolidating vendors who platform their tool suites for enhanced efficiency and quality improvements. 

However, vendor consolidation can be challenging due to increased dependency and vulnerability, which is why merging them can help avoid disruptions. On the other hand, limiting suppliers can limit access to technologies and impede competitiveness, so the matter must be tackled adequately. 

Managing insider threats 

Insider threats are the most difficult to foresee and manage, especially when viral trends on social media platforms contribute to them. The latest one, “Quit-Tok,” shows how many employees drop their anonymity and record what happens inside a business to showcase it online. 

While this can be helpful in identifying injustice in companies, it can also contribute to a culture of distrust between employees and management. At the same time, it puts sensitive data at risk and increases the potential for insider threats. 

A robust cybersecurity plan should be in place, including data loss prevention, access control, and improved infrastructure security. These strategies could prevent and tackle problems from malicious or negligent insiders who disclose sensitive information. 

Navigating AI-powered attacks 

Artificial Intelligence is one of the best and most difficult technologies companies face. While it can help cut costs and improve efficiency, its newness and lack of regulation make it prone to risks. 

Supply chain vulnerabilities, sensitive information disclosures, and denials of service can occur in AI-based applications. Pre-trained models are also expected to have biased data outputs, hindering companies’ ability to make proper decisions and putting them at risk of legal liabilities and reputational damage. 

Businesses must mitigate the creation of an adequate legal framework around the use of AI and employ better ethical guidelines for the company culture. Leaders must be wary of the possibility of automated malware and bias exploitation. 

Directing cloud security 

Cloud service is a revolutionary solution for businesses to manage scalability, collaboration, and flexibility. However, as the company needs to adapt to demand and trends, most use a combination of public, private, and hybrid cloud solutions, which means vulnerabilities can slip in. 

That’s where cloud security mesh can implement a better cybersecurity measure, as it covers all widely distributed assets. Multi-cloud architectures offer supportive layers for tools to operate in regards to consolidating policy management and security intelligence. 

Cybersecurity cloud mesh solutions ensure:

  1. Collecting, consolidating, and analyzing data in real-time to enhance threat response time;
  2. Supporting a distributed identity fabric for adaptive access and entitlement management;
  3. Offering consolidated dashboards that help deploy responses to security events;

Handling disinformation 

We officially reached the era of deep fakes, which cause users to lose their trust in the online environment and, therefore, in companies. Customers can face difficulties distinguishing social media posts from malicious actors posing as true companies.

Unfortunately, this can considerably affect cybersecurity, as anyone can impersonate management, employees, or even stakeholders. Such individuals can request access to sensitive information within the company, and since the impersonation is so accurate, disaster could happen easily. 

Besides robust cybersecurity management, the use of AI-powered tools to flag disinformation campaigns is essential. At the same time, the learning models can implement stricter moderation policies for the company’s social media page. 

Why investing in cybersecurity is essential 

Although leaders put cybersecurity on top of their business threat list, the value of annual investment deals has shown a slight decline since the pandemic. While the value peaked in 2021, with companies understanding how important cybersecurity is due to the massive number of breaches and attacks, things changed the following year. 

Knowing what to invest in as a priority can help businesses save money in the long run and avoid issues. For example, focusing on privacy, identity, and device protection is the most important thing to do, as these aspects include a lot of data that hackers can access and use with little effort. 

All business devices require adequate firewalls and anti-virus protection because hackers’ strategies for finding an entryway are becoming more sophisticated. Every unpatched software poses a vulnerability, and every remote device is exposed to data interception. 

Following and adapting a cybersecurity framework efficiently identifies and navigates cybersecurity challenges, but few brands have a plan. Having a structured approach to something that can happen at any time will ensure you have all the steps for identifying, protecting, detecting, responding, and recovering from a cybersecurity attack. 

Are you ready for 2025 cybersecurity challenges? 

As artificial intelligence evolves and malware attacks become more direct, companies face difficulties navigating breaches. Every new year brings new problems, and in 2025, we expect AI frameworks to pose new challenges, along with insider threats from employees and third parties. At the same time, cloud framework diversity might require a new approach to support the mix of public, private, and hybrid products. Brands must prioritize cybersecurity for their next investments because handling breaches and attacks will become more challenging in the future. 

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